120. Thanks

For the response. I was unaware that we had scored so poorly though the study does appear to hedge its findings somewhat do to inconsistent sample sizes etc.

That's what I get for basing my point on my parents recollection of things instead of looking it up!

Either way the international perception of us as lazy, fat and stupid is I think is incorrect. To judge the intelligence of our nation based on who voted for Romney is short sighted considering a large minority of Americans don't bother to vote at all.

I stand by my theory that we are much more disillusioned than stupid. We are as a people so disconnected from the centers of economic power that really govern us from the politicians that represent us and even from the soldiers and the military who sacrifice for us. (whether you believe they are out there fighting for the interests of the Plutocracy or the people their sacrifice is very real)

Even now, after the exit polls clearly showed that the majority of the people want the rich to pay more in taxes the corporate media is slowly but surely shaping the argument into some sort of equivalency between "entitlement programs" and "revenue increases".

So the uber rich get a trillion dollar hand out, deregulation leads to a catastrophic economic meltdown, job creation which the tax cuts were supposed to stimulate actually goes down during W, the 400 richest Americans increase their collective wealth by 200 billion dollars last year, but a "fair and balanced" approach requires a slashing of spending that generally benefit the poor and the middle class.

Is it a wonder Americans don't pay attention to the media and generally are of the opinion that politicians do nothing to really improve their lives?

Thanks again for the historical knowledge on international test scores, I never mind learning new things.